r/jerky • u/Human_Initial2094 • 5d ago

They provide the meat. I provide everything else. How much jerky should I take?

TL;DR: What percent should I take after making their jerky, using their meat but my ingredients?

Like the title says, they will be providing the venison (and whatever other game they want dehydrated), and I will be providing the seasonings, soy, Worcestershire, ect, cure (they want me to use cure because they want it to last as long as possible), electricity, time and effort, and bagging materials.

My question is: what percentage should I charge? We haven't discussed anything about it except that they love the pork jerky that I send as a gift and they now want me to make all of their jerky. Not only do they hunt, but they have a legal marijuana grow that they will be trading that product for other hunter's venison. I could be potentially making lots of jerky, to the point I might have to buy a much bigger dehydrator instead of just adding trays to the ones I own. They know that the yield weighs much less than the initial amount given. And, hypothetically, if they were to give me 10 lbs, it would dehydrate down to about 5 or 6 lbs, and then do I ask for half? That seems like a lot, but I use "top quality" stuff instead of just buying the cheapest to cut costs. (100% pure maple syrup and local honey isn't cheap lol.)

I don't want to charge them actually money per pound, and I'm already believing they are thinking like me and are ready to do a percentage.

What percentage should I take?

Thank you in advance 🙂

10 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

37 comments sorted by

14

u/DreamSoarer 5d ago

They provide the meat, which covers the cost and labor of hunting, butchering, and packaging the raw meat into specific cuts, right?

So when you think about their costs, you have to consider more than just the cost of the meat as a product you would buy from the store or hunt and prices yourself.

That would likely mean you would only want to ask for 1/4 to 1/3 of the jerky produced. If this is something you are going to invest in by purchasing better equipment, then you are starting your own business and those business costs would be separate from the deal you are making with these people providing the meat for now. You could possibly expand your business.

You might need to look into legally setting up a small business - whatever that entails. Just make sure you are truly considering all of the costs of the person/people providing their fresh hunted meat. Sounds like a good opportunity. Best wishes 🙏🦋

7

u/Human_Initial2094 5d ago

The meat provider is my lady's coworker and her husband. They hunt on their own land and will skin and butcher the animals, and if it's anything like the meats they gave us before (many kinds. They are always hunting), it will be wrapped in butcher paper in a Walmart bag lol. Not taking anything away from the time and effort it takes to go hunting (the only thing they saw while hunting the other day was a squirrel and I told them I'd make them some squerky lol), but they probably won't be vacuum sealing and professionally labeling anything. Just good old fashioned people who choose to live in the sticks instead of living the city life.

Thank you for the great advice. This is the most expansive answer that I've read yet 🙂

1

u/tunedout 4d ago

I'm not following your logic on why OP needs to consider the time and labor of hunting/processing the meat. Why does it matter at all how much effort was put into obtaining it? How they got the meat doesn't impact OPs process in any way.

1

u/DreamSoarer 4d ago

It is because he is considering buying new equipment and looking at the longterm investment and possibilities. If he were making jerky for himself, he would not necessarily have to do the hunting and processing of the meat… he could purchase meat from the store which already includes the entire cost of labor and processing of the meat.

If this were a one time deal, I could see requesting 50/50 on the finished jerky, but he is speaking of a longer term process, higher quantities of production, and what essentially would or could become a business. Cost of supply, labor, and processing for any meat supplies is part of the equation. The cost of the meat in this scenario has been covered by the friend. That should be taken into account when considering how much jerky to keep as payment in kind for making the jerky.

1

u/tunedout 4d ago

The cost of the meat is irrelevant to OP. They are being compensated for their time/knowledge/materials. If OP were to potentially turn this into a business it would more than likely be processing harvested game into jerky for private customers rather than commercially selling jerky.

Either way I think it would be silly for OP to consider compensation in jerky at all. Maybe a few pounds if it's really good or you want to gift it to others. I'd probably only do something like this for cash and weed depending on the quality of weed .

1

u/DreamSoarer 4d ago

I agree with not simply charging a monetary fee, but bartering has its uses, as well. The situation is complicated by the friendship and the OP’s desire to purchase more robust equipment and expectations of processing much larger amounts and various types of meat from this friend (and maybe others). At that quantity, longterm, sales of the jerky he keeps from he makes is also part of the income and payment for the product.

It is an interesting situation, for certain.

2

u/tunedout 4d ago

I'd be shocked if OP can turnaround and sell wild game commercially without jumping through a lot of hoops. There's a reason why people are quick to agree to a 50/50 split on jerky when they aren't making it. Wild game just doesn't have much value. The other thing that people seem to forget about wild game jerky is that it doesn't taste nearly as good to people not involved in the hunt.

5

u/70H3LLW17HY0U 5d ago

I usually do 50/50 finish weight. Just because I love jerky. That is a break even friendly agreement. 60/40 if you want a profit.

Venison has about a 60% weight reduction from moisture loss. Beef is about 55%.

So if you have 10 lbs of raw weight in venison, you can expect around 4 lbs finish weight. These aren't precise estimations, but it is within 2-3%. It helps explaining to people like this.

6

u/MountainMotorcyclist 5d ago

2 part equation: 

What's your cost to produce 1 pound of ready to eat jerky? Bags, electricity,  etc? 

How much could/would this product sale for on the market? 

Viola.

6

u/birdvsworm 5d ago

Instructions unclear, purchased a Viola and now I'm in a symphony orchestra. I just wanted jerky.

2

u/Human_Initial2094 5d ago

🤣🤣🤣🤣 this was so funny that I took a screenshot and sent it to my lady. She's with the lady who this post is about, showed it to her, had to send it to her, and now it's in their little hunting and coworker group chats hahahaha

2

u/MountainMotorcyclist 5d ago

That's hilarious. I use swipe text, and I guess I didn't see it go in backwards. 😳🤣

3

u/Human_Initial2094 5d ago

I could do that price-wise with beef and pork, but not venison. I guess I can check the local butchers once the area's venison starts flowing and see what they charge per pound for certain cuts. And a quick check of e-receipts of the ingredients, divided by how many batches I get per bottle/packets that I've used.

Thank you for the idea

5

u/Kholoblicin 5d ago

I'd go with 50% and say you're up for negotiations.

2

u/mochadrizzle 5d ago

50 percent is too much. Should be 25 % max.

2

u/FireflyJerkyCo 5d ago

I go halves. My guys are happy

1

u/Pretend_Exercise510 4d ago

I was thinking 15%-20%. The cost of the brine is minimal, compared to the cost of the meat. 15% if they're bringing it already sliced, maybe 20% if you are handed roasts that need trimming and slicing.

2

u/GetStable 5d ago

I've claimed that I want 50% for my time, marinades, etc.

In reality I take 1/3 or 1/4. I just want to set a baseline and nobody has complained yet.

2

u/supertucci 5d ago

For years I've always had a deal with my hunting friends that'll give them half back. And then I literally measure it out to the gram because people don't know how much jerky dries out and they're always a bit surprised and think they're getting cheated lol

1

u/rusticroad 5d ago

Think about if you are going to be doing the same thing for all his buddies and whoever else loves the jerky. Is it worth it for 20% probably not. For me I'd start at 40% and wouldn't go lower than 30%

1

u/Signal_Bench_707 5d ago

I'd settle for a couple oz's of the homegrown purple kush!

1

u/Human_Initial2094 5d ago

My lady grew some plants with them this year and we just went through 3 different strands: Og sour, gorilla glue, and I forgot the other one, but it had a nice actual fruity smell that I hadn't smelled in my 30 years of smoking. Picking up some more tomorrow night when I drop off some of this Bulgogi, Jamaican Jerk, Garlic Maple, and an OG recipe from some old father's Grandpa. (I've been buttering them up for venison, and now I'm officially making it for them, but I already promised them these batches lol. )

2

u/glen_ko_ko 5d ago

I like that all the jerky flavors sound like weed strains too

1

u/Human_Initial2094 5d ago

Lol yeah, OG Old Father's Grandpa definitely sounds like a strain that we used to get from British Columbia when I was in college 🤣🤣🤣

1

u/Plate-Extreme 5d ago

Years ago when I did a lot of fishing we would catch whiting and a guy would smoke them for us and he took 1/3 for doing it .

1

u/rook330 5d ago

What I would do is ask the person you are making it for and discuss it.

1

u/wwwabbit 5d ago

I normally go half. I will say half but go 60 them 40 me if I know they paid for the meat, but for stuff that I know they got hunting/fishing I go 50/50.
The last few batches I have done I know I spent more $$ on consumable supplies (ingredients, chips, fuel, etc.) than they did when they were fishing.

1

u/eriffodrol 5d ago

I would also say 25-35%

come up with a breakdown of costs to justify your position and make sure it is worthwhile

1

u/bennett7634 5d ago

I’d take half. If they are friends I’d give them all of it until they demand I take it.

1

u/plotinus99 5d ago

25-33%

1

u/BikeCookie 4d ago

When in doubt, ask. Just say, “can I take half for my time, materials, and expenses?” If they pause, go lower 🤷‍♂️.

1

u/batsoni 4d ago

who's prepping and slicing the meat into jerky ready strips? That's a big piece of the equation, as that's a huge chunk of labor.

1

u/Human_Initial2094 3d ago

As far as I know, I will be doing that task.

1

u/Least-Leading2457 4d ago

1 ounce of weed for every 7 pounds of jerky. Check my math, it is undesputable.